For 25 years, Kevin Monroe has been the man who ultimately decides when the city's snowy and icy roads get plowed and salted.

With each administration, the street superintendent said, the approach changes to some degree. At issue is whether to be pro-active or reactive while managing public tax dollars.

The city's current approach is somewhere in between.

"If we find out there's a 20 percent chance of snow overnight, I won't act on a 20 percent chance," Monroe said. "The higher the percentage, the more likely we'll staff."

Deciding when to send out crews — and incur the overtime dollars that strain public budgets and can mean less street paving in the summer or fall — requires less guesswork with the advent of technology and computer-based weather reporting. The technology that measures pavement temperature also helps, as it's a more critical tool than air temperature in treating roads.

Both the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Stark County engineer's office say those tools allow them to be prudent and most financially efficient.

"We have to plow," said Justin Chesnic, a spokesman for ODOT. "We still have a lot of cost depending on the weather, (but) we now have tools to help us be effective."

Stark County Engineer Keith Bennett said that his crews are not sent out based on the amount of snowfall. More important is the condition of the surface, and whether snow is sticking or freezing. Conditions are monitored around the clock.

WHEN TO PLOW

ODOT uses weather reports — including a customized service — to decide when to dump salt and brine and plow snow.

"ODOT has used its own weather service for about 10 years," said Tim Guth, ODOT manager in Stark County, who noted they also use the National Weather Service and a personalized forecaster.

The county also relies on information from ODOT's weather service. "That's the great thing with all the Internet and weather services — you can pretty much tie it down when (snow is) coming," Bennett said.

Studying weather forecasts allows ODOT to be more proactive instead of reactive, Guth said. "The timing is a big issue, making sure we have crews just prior to a storm."

The use of brine also helps, Chesnic said. Brine — a salt and water solution — is also used to pretreat roads, creating a layer that prevents ice and snow from bonding with the pavement.

PAVEMENT TEMPERATURES

Advancements also include gauging pavement temperature.

ODOT gleans information from pavement sensors. The practice started about 10 years ago. Each truck registers both the air temperature and pavement temperature, said Leslie Beck, transportation manager for ODOT in Stark County.

Sensors indicate whether the snow is melting or freezing on driving surfaces.

Page 2 of 3 - The city equips six plow trucks with equipment that determines pavement temperature.

Knowing the surface temperature allows the city to ration its treated salt to better manage costs and treat roads. Treated salt — either with magnesium or a byproduct of beet juice from agricultural use — costs more than pure rock salt.

The additives allow the salt to melt ice in colder temperatures, Monroe said. Magnesium-treated salt is used for "super cold" temperatures, he said.

BUDGET STRAIN

Snow and ice removal means big dollars. The costs fluctuate with the severity and mildness of the winter. In the city of Canton, the work impacts both the overall budget and the salaries of individual drivers.

So far in 2013, the overtime wages total roughly $83,000. The city is on pace in 2013 to spend less than the last five-year average. But with the weather, the spending rises and falls — $131,820 was spent in 2010 on overtime and $73,351 in 2011.

The overall city snow and ice budget is about $1 million annually, including fuel, maintenance and salt, said Monroe.

Just like overtime, the city salt budget fluctuates depending on the harshness of winter: $817,200 in 2011 and $465,347 in 2012, according to the city auditor's office. Unused salt also is carried over from one year to the next.

PLOW DRIVERS

More snow and ice also means a boost in the wallet of plow drivers.

For the last 12 months, overtime pay ranged from $1,284 for a lower-level city operator (with low-ranking seniority) to $9,857 for a crew supervisor (the most senior position).

Some other city plow drivers made between $4,000 and $6,000 in overtime, according to figures from the street department.

Straight wages range from $13.19 per hour (entry level) to roughly $19 and $22; it depends on what equipment the employee is qualified to operate. Annual salaries are from about $40,000 to $45,000.

Similar trends are reflected in figures from the Stark County engineer's office.

For November 2012 to March 2013, overtime was in the $5,000 to $6,000 range for each of the top three overtime-earning plow truck drivers. The annual salary for those workers is between $35,000 and $40,000.

LONG HOURS

Those who plow snow realize it entails long hours — sometimes more than 12-hour shifts — and flexible schedules.

"Pretty much everybody knows this is their job, just like putting a fire out (for firefighters)," said Guth of ODOT. "These guys are really good about being here."

Added Chesnic: "Unfortunately, if it's snowing ... on Christmas morning, that plow driver might not get to be with his wife and kids on Christmas morning when they open presents."

Plowing snow is a grind, said Beck of ODOT.

"It takes a certain type of person to get into this kind of work, it really does," he said. "It's not for the fainthearted."

Page 3 of 3 - Monroe said the plow work is a high calling. In the late 1990s, he said, after it had become difficult to get some drivers to work extra, the official chided the department he oversees.

Staffing was more robust in those days, when the city budget wasn't as constrained. In 1997, the city had about 70 plow drivers compared to 31 currently.

Monroe still tells drivers they will have to sacrifice their own time whenever weather arises. "There's a responsibility to the citizenry to be available when needed."